Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Boosts Stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 17.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 70,693 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 10,651 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $2,857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 69.3% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its position in FirstEnergy by 293.0% during the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 786 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Jason Lisowski sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.97, for a total transaction of $503,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,680.51. This trade represents a 98.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FE stock traded down $0.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $40.65. The stock had a trading volume of 2,702,794 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,718,907. The company's 50-day moving average price is $41.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.63. FirstEnergy Corp. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $44.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.22, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.07. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th were issued a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 7th. This is a boost from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group increased their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Company Profile

FirstEnergy Corp., through its subsidiaries, generates, transmits, and distributes electricity in the United States. It operates through Regulated Distribution and Regulated Transmission segments. The company owns and operates coal-fired, nuclear, hydroelectric, wind, and solar power generating facilities.